It’s been a few weeks since my deep dive into Helloween’s back catalog and then the killer album from MadHatter showed up, and now I’m going deeper into the Power Metal void with Shadows of Steel and their searing fourth full-length Twilight II. This is a ass-kicker, fast when it needs to be and harmonious […]

Back in 2012, I reviewed The Abrogation from Alabama’s Chaos Invocation, a damn solid piece of ripping death metal. But then nothing for over 10 years. I was recently curious about the status of the band it turns out vocalist Chris White (also of Blood Stained Dusk) and guitarist/bassist Cam Pinkerton actually left the band […]

I’ve had a few moments where I look at the speakers and ask myself ‘what the fuck am I listening to?’ Of course I already know obviously but in terms of the sounds coming into my ears, it’s a process to process and then decide if I like it enough to stick around. Which brings […]

A few years ago I reviewed Embryonic Autopsy’s terrific debut album, Prophecies of the Conjoined, which was the new death metal act by now reformed Oppressor singer and friend Tim King.  Once again joining Tim on Origins of the Deformed is Scott Roberts on guitars and the band bringing in new members, Kenxi on bass […]

This summer, two pretty revered veteran, symphonic black metal acts will be releasing their ninth albums (both on June 28th no less!). Both released their debut albums in 1996 and both waited 6-7 years between their last albums and these new releases. One is Norway’s Limbonic Art, who released their debut The Moon In Scorpio […]

Wow. Here is some really creative, unique black/death metal from a Belgian band I know nothing about other than they have 1 prior album under their belt. The actual ‘Shiva Hypothesis’ is a theory concerning extinction-level events and meteors, but the band is a 4 piece with ties to various other Belgian death metal acts, […]

  The years between 1930 and 1947 are incredibly monumental years for a number of reasons. WWII was a pivotal time in world history, and the rise of fascism was the impetus for the United States to get involved (among other things.) Within Black Metal there lies a hole where politics turn blood red in […]

Pentagram (Chile) has literally been around for just shy of 40 years – can you wrap your head around that for a moment?  How about the fact that Eternal Life of Madness is only their second album, their debut finally dropping in 2013 – The Malefice, a monstrously amazing debut album, capturing all the essence […]

So A while ago, I was having a crazy day and gardening was the main task at hand, but it was made all the better because El Jefe had sent me this promo and I was pretty anxious because of the “Black Metal meets Hawkwind” description in the press blurb. The promo went straight to […]

Cripes, here is another band like Greece’s Sun of Nothing, that I have not heard in fucking ages. With Sun of Nothing there was a 21-year gap between their debut …and Voices, Words, Faces, Complete the Dream way back in 2003 and this year’s Maze. With French bruisers Morgue it was 2002’s utterly devastating The […]

Spain’s Wormed has been around for over 25 years – wow how time really flies into a space vortex!!!  The band takes their time with releasing albums and other than a 2019 stop-gap EP Metaportal, which I reviewed, Omegon has taken eight years to come out since the scorching Krighsu. Omegon is Wormed’s fourth album […]

Formerly known as Epitasis, Chicago’s Carrion Throne is listed as a Doom/Death band on Metal-Archives, but after hearing this debut EP, I’m more inclined to list them as a more Brutal/Slam Death metal band more in line with Devourment and Wormed. The 6 songs here (4 new songs and 2 demo songs from 2022) are […]

I haven’t written anything in over a month. It’s not just writing about metal, but it’s hard to enjoy any of my passions. Not to go too far into detail, but Kittie’s long-awaited new album Fire came out the day before I found out that my mother didn’t have much time left. Just a few […]

Sometimes I find myself needing a break from Death Metal, Black Metal, and those related sub-genres and I look for something heavy, but different. So the other day I went down a Helloween rabbit hole, Keeper of the Seven Keys 1&2, Walls of Jericho; those are two prime examples of precision German Power Metal, while […]

My bud Alex, the owner of Dolorem Records, has once again sent me a promo for one of his bands and this time it’s for Serement, a blackened death metal band hailing from Greece.  I had never heard of the word Serement and decided to look it up but had no luck, the net kept […]

Early in their career, the Norwegian duo Limbonic Art was close to being mentioned in the same circles as the likes of Emperor, Arcturus, Borknagar, and such. Their 1996 debut The Moon in Scorpio and 1997 follow up In Abhorrence Dementia, were heralded as near classics in the symphonic black metal genre. However, the band […]

What do you get when you cross mid-90s Black Metal ie: Dark Funeral, The Abyss, Necrophobic and Dissection with Helloween, and Metallica? The kind of vibe that Bloodcross is laying down on Gravebound. These unholy Finns are firing on all thrusters with this debut full-length. After releasing the Abysmal Blood Demo in 2021, they (presumably) […]

Canada keeps kicking out sick tech death bands in 2024. Sentiment Dissolve has been around since 2021. The Orwellian Dream kicks off with “Forced Birther.’  Right off the bat you can hear how intricate their arrangements and vocal patterns are. You can hear the Archspire influence on the vocal patterns which are quite impressive done […]

Technical Death Metal is one of those sub-genres I must be in the mood for. The same goes for Power Metal, but I’m talking about Replacire and not Sonata Artica; the former being the Eric Alper driven death machine that I had no idea existed and the latter being one of the best Power Metal […]

Sweden’s Wormwood burst onto the melodic black metal scene with 2017’s excellent Ghostlands, followed up by Nattarvett, the first of a planned trilogy of albums. Part two of the trilogy, 2021s Arkivet saw the band take a melancholic downturn befitting the tale of mankind’s general shittiness. I was hoping for a return to the more […]

I reviewed and raved about the Cavalera brothers re-recording the first two recordings of Sepultura, Bestial Devastation/Morbid Visions EP, last year.  Last year when they played “Escape to the Void” and “Inquisition Symphony” live, on the Morbid Devastation tour, I knew it was a matter of time before we all got notice that Schizophrenia was […]

When Arizona’s Gatecreeper burst onto the scene 10 years ago they did it with such gusto, ushering in a bludgeoning death metal sound.  By incorporating many elements of the Swedish chainsaw – buzzsaw HM-2 heaviness with large elements of groove they became one of the heaviest bands, overnight.  Across their prior two albums and eps […]

Henry Kane (AKA Jonny Petterson from Wombbath) has released two fine grindcore/crust albums under this Poltergeist-named project; 2017s Den förstörda människans rike, and 2020s appropriately named Age of the Idiot. Both delivering furious, Nasum-ish-styled Swedish grind/crust. However, his third release is a completely different beast altogether. and you should probably brace for it a little bit. […]

Death. War. Pestilence. Famine. A dying planet gasping for breath as it is gripped in the throes of Armageddon. Legions of demons sweep across the land, killing all in sight with reckless abandon. As the skies fall and the moon becomes black as sackcloth, it is out of this malignant hatred that Downcross was formed […]

Ohio continues to be one of the main hotbeds for quality American death metal bands.  I am new to the 200 Stab Wounds bandwagon and it was 2022/2023 when the band came onto my radar.  The label breeding ground for death metal bands getting signed to bigger labels is Maggot Stomp Records. 200 Stab Wounds […]